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I recently reviewed a Pre-Algebra program with Seahawk, and he’s done really well with it. When the opportunity to review No-Nonsense Algebra from Math Essentials presented itself, I thought the early chapters would make a good supplement to his current pre-algebra course, and then when he finished that, we’d have the Algebra 1 program set aside ready to dive into.

No-Nonsense Algebra is a softcover math textbook, and as its title suggests, it is just Algebra. There are absolutely no frills, lessons are short and self-contained, and there are loads of examples and practice problems. And to make a good textbook even better, author Richard W. Fisher has created video instruction to go with every single lesson in the book. The access passcode is printed right in the book (on the first title page), so you don’t have to ever worry about losing it.

No-Nonsense Algebra covers all the topics you’d expect in an Algebra 1 course:

Necessary Tools for Algebra

Solving Equations

Graphing and Analyzing Linear Equations

Solving and Graphing Inequalities

Systems of Linear Equations and Inequalities

Polynomials

Rational Expressions (Algebraic Fractions)

Radical Expressions and Geometry

Quadratic Equations

Algebra Word Problems

The very first lesson. Note that there’s nothing on the page except the actual information needed and practice problems. That’s what I mean by “no frills.” Click to enlarge.

As I mentioned before, Seahawk was the main beneficiary of this math book. He wasn’t thrilled with this (he really likes his online math program), but after the very first lesson he was a convert. He was having trouble wrapping his mind around adding and subtracting negative numbers, and Mr. Fisher’s video lesson explained it much more clearly than anything we’d come across previously. After that one video lesson, Seahawk was able to do all of the practice problems (15 of them) in record time. From then on, doing this book in conjunction with his regular math lesson has been just fine – which is a real testament to the effectiveness of this program, considering it’s summertime and my energetic 13-year-old would rather be spending time outside with his friends.

In addition to doing this with Seahawk, I decided to have Munchkin (almost 11, going into 6th grade) sit in on the first lesson, just to see how he did with it. While I won’t say that was a complete failure, it was definitely clear after just a few minutes that it was way beyond him. He got very frustrated, so I quickly let him off the hook and continued on with just Seahawk. However… we’ve had such great success with the older son that I’m seriously considering getting the Math Essentials Middle School book for him to use this school year.

One of my favorite things about this text is that it provides constant review for the student. I think this is absolutely vital in helping them to remember what they’ve learned. Without frequent review of the material, it’s too easy to “learn the test,” and that’s not what we want for our students. We want them to actually know what they’re learning so they have the skills they need to succeed long-term. And while not every algebraic concept is useful in the “real world” (I don’t even remember the last time I needed the quadratic equation was – probably when I was taking high school math classes!), many of them are. For this reason, I’m so glad to have the opportunity to use such a solid math book with my boys. And because this is a textbook as opposed to a workbook, I’ll have it on hand for all of them. I’m really glad about that!

There are 60 reviews on No-Nonsense Algebra from members of the Homeschool Review Crew this week. Make sure to click the banner below to find links to the rest of them.

Blessings,

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We recently learned that there is such a thing as “print your own temporary tattoos.” How fun is that?! So Will bought a sheet of the tattoo paper from JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts (it was about $10 for a single sheet) and printed some tattoos up for us. He used about half the page for Casey and Kyle tattoos (his comic), and the other half he put my ladybug logo on. These tattoos are good quality; they last much longer than any mainstream varieties our kids have had before.

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Being a (casual) listener of the Rush Limbaugh radio program, I’d heard of the Adventures of Rush Revere #1 New York Times Bestselling Book Series by Rush and Kathryn Adams Limbaugh. I’d even seen some of the books in a few stores. But I’d never actually picked one up or knew exactly what it was (outside of novels about American history). When the opportunity to review the whole series was offered, I talked to my husband about it, and he was interested too – that never happens, especially with physical products! Based on his reaction, I requested to review these books, and I’m really glad I did!

For this review, we received all five books in the Adventures of Rush Revere Book Series: Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims, Rush Revere and the First Patriots, Rush Revere and the American Revolution, Rush Revere and the Star Spangled Banner, and Rush Revere and the Presidency. Each of the books revolves around the same main characters: Rush Revere, a middle school substitute history teacher; Tommy, the quarterback of the football team who is the class clown but a closet brainiac; Freedom, a free-spirited girl who was born on the Fourth of July; and Liberty, Mr. Revere’s talking, time-traveling horse.

The purpose of the books is to make American history fun for kids. Each of the books takes place during two eras: the current one and one in the past. Mr. Revere and Liberty use their time-traveling abilities to make history come alive to their students via his smartphone and a projector in the classroom. By traveling back in time and videoing the experience, he sends to the school projector so the students can watch things happen as they’re happening. In the first book, Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims, there’s a moment after this first class in which Tommy and Freedom figure out his secret (I don’t remember the details offhand), so he takes them with him on subsequent trips. The main focus of the novel is the 1620s, and we meet historical figures such as William Bradford, Myles Standish, and the Indians Squanto, Samoset, and Massasoit. The time-travelers get to experience such events as the boarding of the Mayflower, traveling on the Mayflower, and the first Thanksgiving.

Subsequent books explore different parts of American history. We’re currently reading book 2 (The First Patriots), and so far we’ve met Benjamin Franklin as he’s about to give a speech to the English Parliament in opposition of the Stamp Act. Books 2 and 3 both focus on the period of the American Revolution, while book 4 moves on to the writing of the constitution, the sewing of the first American flag, and the writing of the national anthem. The final book takes place after the successful revolution and focuses on the first three presidents and the work they did in their offices.

Each of these books is what I’d call “average” sized for a children’s novel – about 6×9 and 200-250 pages. The books are beautifully produced with full-color interior pages, and they feel really sturdy. I have no doubt that these will provide my children lots of reading entertainment for years to come. Before then, though, I fully intend for us to read the entire series together. The books are really fun and an easy read-aloud option. I love the they’re fun stories that teach children about history. I know my kids are enjoying them because they normally doodle during read-aloud time, but with these books, they’re captivated and just listen. It’s really rewarding for me as a parent (and the reader!) to experience having their rapt attention. The only thing my kids think are a little cheesy are the illustrations, but that’s an easily forgivable “offense.” Especially when combined with the great text and the other non-illustration images included in the books (maps, pictures of past presidents, etc).

Overall, I highly recommend these books! I was mildly interested in them before the review because, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I’m a casual listener of Rush Limbaugh’s radio program. I’d seen the books at Target, but never really looked at them. Now that we’ve read one (and a little bit), I’m excited to keep reading these to my boys, and then to do them again in a few years when the little kids are old enough to start learning “for real.” Rush Revere books are definite keepers in our home!

Blessings,

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The older boys have been taking dance classes since September, around the time I started taking ballet. The difference between us is that they’ve stuck with it; I didn’t (I found that it hurt my feet because of the split sole on the ballet slippers). They danced in The Nutcracker at Christmastime, and Seahawk had a solo in that.

For the past couple of months, their dance studio has been putting together another production, and this weekend is the performance. Last night was Opening Night, they perform again tonight, and there’s a matinee for the closing tomorrow. I was a backstage helper last night, and I’ll be in the audience on Sunday afternoon. Because I wasn’t in the audience last night, I don’t have pictures of the actual performance (I’ll try to do a new post with those next week), but I do have this one of the boys in their costumes, hanging out backstage. I love how they look like they’re palling around together! Proof that they do sometimes get along 😉

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This picture wasn’t taken this week, but it was perfect for Mother’s Day – all four of my boys in one photograph.

We found a pond just a few blocks from where we’re staying right now, and there are lots of ducks and geese who live there. The boys have had a really fun time going to visit them. We went twice last week, and it’s really neat to see them interacting with nature so freely. We took some bread one day (old hamburger buns) and taught Small Fry how to tear it very small so that his portion would last a long time. By the end, Will and Seahawk had some of the geese literally eating out of their hands. That was pretty cool. Small Fry tried to let one of them eat from his hand, and it nipped at his fingers even though he did everything right and held his hand very flat. After that he was happy to just toss the bread.

When we ran out of bread, we walked around to the other side of the pond where Seahawk and Munchkin skipped some rocks. Seahawk is a natural at that (at most athletic things, actually) and was able to get 5+ skips a few different times.

After we left the pond, we were going to go to a local ice cream place where they have lots of different (unusual) flavors of ice cream. Will and I went there a week or so ago and had the rose petal flavor (it tastes mostly like vanilla, but there’s an aftertaste that is just what you’d think roses taste like based on their scent). Unfortunately, they were closed by the time we got there, so we went to Dairy Queen instead. Small Fry was pretty excited about the Guardians of the Galaxy cutout there and wanted his picture taken, so we did that for him. He has a photo album that he loves to look at full of pictures of some of the experiences we’ve done together. I’m sure this one will end up in there at some point.

That night, after we’d been asleep for a few hours, Small Fry came into our room crying. I woke up to find out what was going on with him; he said his lip was hurting a lot. I took him into the bathroom so I could turn the light on without bothering anyone else and take a look. He had quite the fat lip and was bleeding just a little bit up underneath. The blood wasn’t severe, so I got him calmed down and back into bed so we could all get enough sleep and deal with it more in the morning.

The following morning, when neither of us were as tired, I got the full story out of him. Turns out he’d fallen out of bed during the night, and because the boys are in such close quarters (all four are sharing one room temporarily), he slammed his face into Seahawk’s bed frame when he fell, hence the fat lip and bleeding. It was very sore all that day, and the next afternoon he came running up to give me a hug and very gently bonked into me. Even though it was hardly any pressure at all, it was enough to break open the scab under his lip and he started bleeding profusely. We got that under control, and everything’s been fine since then.

The last picture I have to share is Munchkin in his new glasses. The boys qualify for their annual eye exams each spring, so we make sure to get them done every year. Seahawk and Small Fry don’t have any issues, but we get them checked anyway. Dragonfly is small enough that he doesn’t need exams yet, but the eye doctor said starting next year, he will. Munchkin, though, wears glasses. He has since he was 5, when he was diagnosed with an astigmatism. He tells me that he doesn’t remember a time that he didn’t have glasses. I remember his first pair of glasses, and that was a magical time. He was small, and didn’t even realize he hadn’t been seeing very well. We took him to pick up his glasses a few days after the eye exam, and as soon as he put them on, his face lit up. He could see so well! That really was a wonderful moment.

Blessings,

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Sometimes it doesn’t feel like we’re doing much in the way of school, but I know we’re just fine :). Here are a few pictures showcasing some of the things we’ve done recently. Most of these are review items for which you’ll get to read my thoughts soon (later this month in many cases).

Small Fry has continued working on Eclectic Foundations to learn to read. We also received a set of the newest Kwik Stix no-mess paint sticks: Thin Stix. In this picture, he’s making a get well card for Will, who had surgery a couple of weeks ago.

One of the blessings of living with my in-laws is that they have an electric piano. Will has taken Seahawk’s desire to learn seriously, and they’ve had a few lessons. Besides the lessons, Seahawk practices nearly every day.

We were blessed with a biography of Jacob de Shazer from YWAM to read. He led a fascinating life, and I’m so glad we get to read about it. In this picture, we’d just finished reading about his involvement in the Doolittle Raid during WWII. The book mentioned that there were reporters on the aircraft carrier with the soldiers, so I looked on YouTube to see if there was any of that footage. Instead I found a newsreel from the event, so we watched that.

Besides what you see here, we’ve also been doing “boring” things like math and science. Also, the boys are learning to type with The Typing Coach.

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

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Literature is one of my favorite subjects to teach. There are just so many good books out there, and by using a wide variety of curricula, my boys are exposed to books that are American classics. Sometimes the books we read are new to me, too. But the best thing of all is when they learn to read beyond just the book – critical thinking along with reading comprehension. This last point is something I tend to struggle with (which is a big part of why I started my virtual book club). But Debra Bell from Apologia Educational Ministries is great with it, and she’s developed a literature curriculum called Readers in Residence Volume 1 (Sleuth). Munchkin and I have had the pleasure of working through this during the past few weeks (when we weren’t busy moving, that is).

What it is

Readers in Residence is a companion to Apologia’s Writers in Residence program, but you can use them independently of one another. Readers in Residence is designed to help kids problem solve their way through books, starting even before they open to the first chapter.

The student book is huge – 562 pages in an 8.5×11″ spiral bound, consumable book, and there are 6 units for students to work through. In the odd numbered units, students are given a book to read, and in the even numbered units, they choose a book of their own in the same genre as the book from the previous unit. For example, the first unit is Sarah, Plain and Tall, and the second unit is the studen’s choice do a historical fiction book. After reading Charlotte’s Web, they choose an animal fiction book. And upon finishing Because of Winn Dixie, the entire fiction section of the library (or book store) is free reign. Each unit has a different focus, and those with an assigned book have a big unit project as well.

The book includes a suggested daily schedule, covering 4 days a week. I found this really helpful in trying to wrap my mind around the gigantic volume. Knowing where to begin and how much to do in a a given day was super helpful. After I studied the schedule and felt like I had a handle on what to expect from this curriculum, I passed the student book on to Munchkin.

How we used it

Munchkin, who is nearing the end of 5th grade, was pretty much given free reign over this curriculum. I was around when he needed help, but he pretty much did it all on his own. I just went over his answers each day when he’d finished. He dove right into Unit 1: Sarah, Plain and Tall. He’d read this book before, bit it had been a few years, so he was happy to read it again.

The subtitle of this curriculum is Sleuth, and that’s very fitting. The opening module of the unit teaches students about becoming an expert reader – both what that means and how to become one. They start by exploring the cover of the book and looking for clues as to what the book might be like based on the cover. There’s a diagram showing the different parts do the cover (title, author, illustrator, awards, etc). Then they’re taught the difference between fiction and nonfiction, and this section is where the first exercise is. Students are instructed to find books of both genres at home and write down their titles. The module continues in this manner, until they’re given instruction to actually pick up the book to read. At that point, they use the information learned to analyze the book before they begin reading.

I had Munchkin follow the schedule laid out in the beginning of the workbook, just for the sake of ease. This fell apart a little bit when we were in the middle of the move, but he’s right back into this book now that we’re settled.

What we think of it

We didn’t make it as far into the curriculum as I’d hoped and expected because our move was sudden and unexpected right in the middle of the review period. Despite that, I really like what I’ve seen so far. I like the 4-day week, I like the methodology behind the program, and I like that my son is learning to take an active role in the books he reads rather than staying a passive reader. I think it’s important to do things deliberately, and Readers in Residence helps students learn to read with a purpose. This is a definite win in my book (pardon the pun).

Blessings,

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I used to love the Smurfs when I was a kid, and I know they’ve had a couple of movies over the past few years, but I haven’t actually seen them. Despite that, I’m looking forward to taking Small Fry, my 4-year-old, to see this one when it comes out. He loves movies! I haven’t told him about it yet; I want a trip to the cinema to be a fun surprise in the midst of some not-so-fun stuff we’ve got going on right now.

There’s a lot of really neat stuff surrounding this new Smurfs movie (Smurfs: The Lost Village), which releases nationwide (U.S.) on April 7th. Let’s start with the trailer:

And synopsis:

In this fully animated, all-new take on the Smurfs, a mysterious map sets Smurfette and her best friends Brainy, Clumsy and Hefty on an exciting and thrilling race through the Forbidden Forest filled with magical creatures to find a mysterious lost village before the evil wizard Gargamel does. Embarking on a roller coaster journey full of action and danger, the Smurfs are on a course that leads to the discovery of the biggest secret in Smurf history!

In anticipation of the movie, there’s a great website for the Smurfs franchise. They’ve got loads of neat things on there to help you build excitement among your children before you take them to see the film. Small Fry is really into coloring sheets lately, so I printed out a few of those for him. He doesn’t really know what Smurfs are, and I haven’t told him we’ll be seeing the movie yet, but he doesn’t care. He just likes coloring!

The website also has some delicious-looking recipes. We haven’t tried any yet because we’re in the middle of a move, so we’re mostly using up the groceries we have rather than making new, “fancy” stuff. Once we get settled in the new place, though, I definitely want to make the Popsicles and Strawberry cake for our family.

For the older kids in your family, they also have “how to draw a Smurf” tutorials. This could be pretty fun for the 6-8 demographic. And besides all this fun stuff, there’s information about the movie itself.

Based on what I’ve seen, I’m excited to have a fun Mommy-Kid date with my son to see The Smurfs: The Lost Village!

Blessings,

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This post is a long time coming, but now’s the time. It will be fairly light on words because I didn’t go (Dragonfly wasn’t even a year old yet when they went, and it didn’t seem like a good thing to bring a baby to), but I do know that Will and the boys (the 3 oldest ones) had a great time. The four of them, plus Will’s dad, went. It was a fabulous bonding time for the men in the family.

Most of the pictures of Small Fry meeting different characters because it was his first time going to an event like this. Plus, he’s at such a fun age that everyone was thrilled to let him have those experiences. Others will include the rest of the family. I’ll include captions as I’m able, based on the little knowledge I have of the event.

With Thor

In front of the Batmobile (from the 1960s show) with Grandpa

Meeting Iron Man

With a Storm Trooper

I’m not sure what this guy is lol

In his homemade Buzz Lightyear costume before the event

And meeting the “real” Buzz. I’m pretty sure this was the highlight of the trip for him.

This is what Dragonfly was doing while everyone else was away for the day: “learning to knit.” 🙂

Blessings,

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My oldest two boys have been pretty interested in capes recently, especially Munchkin (10). It started back when Seahawk dressed as Ron Weasley for Halloween last year. It was the day of, and we hadn’t found the right cape to use as a cloak yet. We were at Goodwill, and couldn’t find anything in the costume department. Then I had a brilliant idea: a long black skirt. We found one for under $5, and within just a few minutes of getting home, we had a cape.

A few months later, Munchkin decided he wanted his own. I asked him if he just wanted to have Seahawk’s (since he rarely wears it), but they both said that it would be better if he had his own. So we went to Goodwill again. The good thing about this project is that you can almost always find a long black skirt for pretty inexpensive at secondhand shops. And depending on the kind of fabric the skirt is made of, it could even be a no-sew project. Of the two we’ve done so far, one has been fine without any sewing and one needed the cut edges “serged” (zigzag stitched, since I don’t have a serger) to prevent fraying.

Here’s how to do it.

Find a skirt the length you like. An elastic waistband is ideal. If you have one in your closet that you don’t wear anymore, this could even be a free project!

Cut a straight line up the center. Leave the waistband intact; this way, the cape stays on the child quite well without the need of any pins or other sharp solution to keep it closed at the top.

Finish the edges if necessary.

Optional: Attach a pin (for older children) or button (for younger children, over age 3) on the former waistband (now the neck) so it looks like it’s fastened, even though that’s not necessary.